1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an automated transit system, and more particularly to an urban transit system that minimizes the social costs of urban transportation, the transit system being based on digital cellular communication, GPS locating technology and digital computers to provide real-time command and control of passengers and vehicles.
2. Description of Related Art
For a number of reasons, the vast majority of communities in the United States and in many other geographic regions have grown to rely on individual transportation, (transportation through individually owned automobiles or cars), rather than public or mass transit. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Atlanta, Ga. area, where traffic congestion and air pollution are fast becoming critically major concerns.
The growing reliance on individual transportation raises a number of very serious concerns. One of the most serious problems is the environmental damage caused by traditional individual transportation vehicles that are powered by internal combustion engines. Internal combustion engines release pollutants into the atmosphere causing air pollution. Individual transportation vehicles also leak lubricants and other environmentally-detrimental chemicals along roadways and parking areas. Such pollutants periodically are washed away by rain water and pollute soils, ground waters, lakes, and rivers. Furthermore, routine maintenance of an individual transportation vehicle contributes huge quantities of pollutants, including used motor oil, which pollutants commonly are not properly handled or recycled.
Other costs related to traditional individual transportation exist beyond those of the environmental costs. With no viable public transportation in many areas, a family generally must own and maintain multiple vehicles. Additionally, the largest monthly expense for many families is the cost of acquiring and operating motor vehicles. Repair costs and insurance add to the financial burdens associated with individual transportation vehicles. Personal injury related costs related to the operation of individual transportation vehicles must also be considered a cost of the conventional individual transportation system. Further, in addition to a family""s expenses of owning, operating and maintaining individual transportation vehicles, the costs of building and maintaining roads, highways and the infrastructure required for individual transportation vehicles represent a significant drain on public funds. Yet, an area""s infrastructure rarely keeps pace with population increases, and, thus, there is large social cost associated with invariable congestion delays resulting from inadequate infrastructure.
The infrastructure that is required for a successful individual transportation system is unavailable, so this conventional system cannot efficiently operate. For example, retail establishments and business centers necessitate substantial spacing to accommodate parking for cars. This required spacing for the cars, combined with the low population density of urban and suburban areas that cars accommodate, make traditional mass transit systems simply too inefficient to be competitive.
Traditional mass transit systems include buses operating on fixed routes as well as light rail and regular rail systems. Where rail systems are in place in relatively high population density areas, the systems commonly enjoy very high ridership. However, the cost of installing rail systems effectively prohibits their use in many areas. Furthermore, low population density urban and suburban areas can not be efficiently serviced by rail systems alone. Even if a rail system provided a link between a suburban area and a downtown area, for example, users must still find some way to travel from their residence to a rail station and from a downtown terminal to their final downtown destination.
Further, transit systems that incorporate buses that operate on fixed routes have proven simply too inefficient to compete with automobile transportation. One reason for this inefficiency is that fixed bus routes are so tied to traffic that it is virtually impossible to maintain a satisfactory schedule. Furthermore, large buses operating on heavily traveled roads interfere with automobile traffic.
In the low population density urban and suburban areas, fixed bus routes and schedules must be so widely spaced that it is difficult and inconvenient for people to even reach the nearest bus stop. Transfers between routes are also difficult to coordinate. The fact of the matter is that traditional fixed route bus transportation systems are so inefficient that for the most part only those who must use the system for economic reasons actually use and benefit from the system. Aside from the general inconvenience of a traditional bus system, the travel time required by such systems is commonly so high that many potential users cannot even consider using the mass transit system without changing lifestyles significantly. Further, passenger use of conventional mass-transit or ride-sharing leaves that person without the use of a private car, often the only practical alternative for errands and emergencies.
Several transit systems are known, but all have disadvantages and deficiencies addressed and overcome by the present system. Such systems include U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,810 to Yoneyama et al. (""810); U.S. Pat. No. 5,493,295 to Lewiner et al. (""295); U.S. Pat. No. 5,739,774 to Olandesi (""774); U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,263 to Culbertson (""263); U.S. Pat. No. 5,818,356 to Schuessler (""356); U.S. Pat. No. 5,987,377 to Westerlage et al. (""377); and, U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,159 to Schmier et al. (""159).
Advances in communications heretofore neglected by mass transit systems can provide a suitable framework that can radically change the economy of mass transit. Primarily, wireless technology and computing make it feasible to provide massive substitutions of information technologies for hardware (road, cars, rails, and trains), and energy (gasoline and coal).
In an attempt to apply the communications revolution presently underway to the problems of an attractive mass transit system, the inventor has relied on some engineering fundamentals that apply to nearly every city transit system, and particularly to the Atlanta area. For example, it is evident that existing roads must provide the bulk of all transport. Further, the capacity of a lane of freeway or arterial street is nearly proportional to vehicle occupancy. High occupancy vehicle lanes and other high occupancy privileges result in time savings for high occupancy vehicles, and are an efficient use of resources when demand is sufficient.
As a result of the improvements in communications, presently it is inexpensive to communicate to and from people, vehicles, and traffic controls nearly in real-time; that is, with delays measured in seconds. It also is inexpensive today to track the geographic position of all vehicles used in high-occupancy transit in real-time. Additionally, it is inexpensive to process data at a central facility, in a plurality of vehicles and in hand-carried devices. Central facility herein does not imply location in a single geographic location, only a function of assigning and coordinating activities. Finally, the social cost of the driving function on a trip that would otherwise be made by the driver is negligible relative to the cost of a paid driver.
As used throughout, hand-carried devices principally refer to cellular phones, radio-capable personal digital assistants, and two-way pagers. xe2x80x9cHand-held devicesxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9ccell phonesxe2x80x9d are terms used interchangeably herein.
There are many trips for which there is no practical substitute for an individually driven automobile. In a metropolitan areas like Atlanta, there is rarely a shortage of convenient automobiles for individual trips, only a shortage of access to the use of those automobiles. Conventional ride-sharing and bus-rail transit have poor performance relative to the expectations of the public, primarily because of the perceived extensive total travel time and uncertainty in the trip time (mainly a function of uncertainty in vehicle arrival times). Conversion of single passenger auto trips during employment rush hours to mass-transit generally has the greatest social benefit.
From the above observations regarding prior art transit systems and the current state of communication systems and engineering fundamentals, it is apparent that a system of mass-transit that is information intensive is key to the resolution of public transportation problems. It is to the provision of such an urban transit system that the present invention is primarily directed.
Accordingly, the present communications and computing based urban transport system comprises a central assigning system and communications devices adapted to be associated with vehicles for transmitting information from the vehicles to the central assigning system, and for receiving information from the central assigning system. The transit system preferably integrates mass transit needs by providing wireless communications between the passengers of the transit system, the vehicles, and the central assigning system used to move the passengers between particular origination and destination sites. In one aspect of the invention, an automated transit system capable of utilizing transit capabilities to transport a passenger from an origination to a destination is provided comprising: a central assigning system capable of matching a passenger""s trip request with current transit parameters to determine vehicle assignment and routes that reduce passenger trip and wait times, wherein the current transit parameters and passenger location are obtained via wireless communication devices optionally capable of transmitting location data.
The passengers and vehicles also are linked to the central assigning system in order to optimize efficiencies in moving the passengers between the origination and destination. The complexity of the present transit system increases with increases in the number of passengers, the number of origination and destination sites involved, and the number and types of vehicles used.
The present transit system equips the passengers and vehicles with wireless communication devices that transmits information to, and receive information from, the central assigning system. The central assigning system is capable of maximizing efficiencies in urban transportation with the information received from and sent to the passengers and vehicles. The system provides passengers with the greatest flexibility and convenience consistent with relatively low economic and environmental costs through the use of wireless communications to and from passengers, vehicles and the central assigning system.
Each passenger of the system requests a xe2x80x9ctripxe2x80x9d be made using the transit system. A trip is defined for each passenger, each trip comprising the origination and destination points for each particular individual. It will be understood that several passengers of the amount of total passengers may request trips having identical, or nearly identical origination sites, and/or identical, or nearly identical destination sites. It is an object of the present invention to minimize resources and costs associated with transporting the passengers between the various sites.
The term passenger herein defines an individual, or group of individuals, that require(s) transportation from a particular origination site to a particular destination site, wherein the mode of transportation is through the use of a vehicle.
The vehicles of the present transit system include both xe2x80x9cshared-ride vehiclesxe2x80x9d, for example, rail transit, buses, vans, and multi-occupancy cars (vehicles used to carry more than one passenger), and xe2x80x9cshared vehiclesxe2x80x9d for individual trips (vehicles used to carry a single passenger). It will be understood that xe2x80x9cshared-ride vehiclesxe2x80x9d may be referred to herein as both xe2x80x9ctransitxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cride-sharingxe2x80x9d. Similarly, xe2x80x9cshared vehiclesxe2x80x9d may be alternately referred to as xe2x80x9ccar rentalxe2x80x9d. One aspect of the present transit system is the availability of car rental vehicles in congested areas at costs and delay times similar to those associated with using a private auto.
All vehicles except possibly automated rail vehicles have drivers. There are two categories of drivers, those who are also passengers and those who are professional. In the case of vans, multi-occupancy cars, and car rentals, the driver is also making a productive trip, thus the social cost of driving itself is zero or nearly zero. These drivers are referred to as shared-ride drivers or rental drivers herein. Professional drivers would normally be used for urban transit buses and rail vehicles. They receive no benefit from making the trip except payment of wages, and benefits. It is possible that professional drivers would be used occasionally to reposition rental vehicles and ride-sharing vans and cars, but the usual driver would be a passenger. Similarly, it is possible that ride-sharing drivers would be used for full size buses, since this reduces labor costs. The present system helps make the latter more feasible.
Communication devices are used in a number of ways, for example: (1) to connect passengers with the central assigning system; (2) to connect drivers with the central assigning system; (3) to connect vehicles with the central assigning system; (4) to connect the various elements of the central assigning system to one another; and, (5) to connect the passenger to vehicles at short range.
Communication devices falling under items 1 and 2 above (used for interfacing the passengers and vehicles with the central assigning system) include, among others, digital cellular communications such as cell phones and GPS (global positioning system) locating technology. The communication devices of item 3 are indicated under the description under the central assigning system.
Preferably, the communication devices of items 1 and 2 are wireless communications enabling the wireless interconnectivity of passenger and vehicle. Other communication devices of items 1 and 2 can include land line communications, such as, phone, E-mail, and World Wide Web technologies. For ease of description only, wireless communication devices herein will be collectively referred to as cell phones. It should be understood that the wireless communcation devices need not be limited to cellular phones. Similarly the term GPS refers to wireless locating technology that may be based on cellular locating systems known to those skilled in the art.
For communication devices of item 5, passenger communication devices can be provided with low transmit power on request to identify the person (if enabled) so as to be able to tell who is in a vehicle or using a rental car. This ability can also be used to enable a rental car, and to identify who is, was, or is about to be on a ride-sharing vehicle. A more general use of low power communication device transmission can be identifying the passenger for purposes of remotely opening doors and enabling ignition. This ability is somewhat similar to current hand-held opening devices used as key chains and garage door openers. Conventional cell phones do not typically have such a feature, but this invention anticipates future incorporation for participating passengers as more convenient than a separate device. Another beneficial feature of the present communication devices (that is often not a part of conventional cell phones) is a USB (universal serial bus) or similar connection such as the low power communication device just referenced, that enables both communication with and power from an attached PC. This will be referred to later to enable special PC and cell phone interactions. The same low power transmission capability of item 5 permits automatic billing of passengers in ride-shared vehicles including mass-transit, and in rental cars. The ridership information so provided to the vehicles is then relayed to the central assigning system discussed next and used to maintain billing information for each passenger. It is a great convenience not to need to make payment by cash, tokens, or credit cards each time a trip or segment of trip is made. Rather a periodic billing is made, perhaps monthly as part of the cellular communications bill. In a similar manner, ride-sharing drivers, particularly of privately owned cars and vans, can be compensated in an automated manner for the services they perform by such mechanisms as automatic deposit. The compensation of such drivers would likely depend in part on the number or passengers they carry as well as the number of times they were available for assignment and mileage driven. All of this can be handled in a fully automatic manner.
The central assigning system of the present transit system includes an assembly of digital computers and communication devices, for example, modems. Modems are used to connect the computers of the central assigning system to phone lines, including particularly high speed versions such as DSL and T1, and to dedicated high speed lines like fiber optics. This in turn provides the links between discrete computers of the central assigning system, and between the communication devices of passengers and vehicles with the central assigning system. The latter takes advantage of the existing cellular (or other) wireless communication system.
The central assigning system need not be located at a single/central location. In preferred embodiments of the present transit system, portions of the assigning system are distributed among several locations to take advantage of the geographic nature of its customers. That is, passengers and shared-ride vehicles are likely to be distributed by geography, and it may well be that distributed location of computers results in lower overall cost.
The integration of passengers with vehicles, communication devices and the central assigning system according to the present transit system provides real-time command and control of passengers and vehicles while minimizing the social costs of urban transportation. Social costs include such things as trip times and convenience, economic costs, and pollution. Most notably, the present transit system has total economic and social costs that are much less than those associated with conventional mass transit systems that incorporate simply an expanded system of roads and conventional mass transit.
The present transit system provides other advantages over the prior art including, among others, the ability to make trip time uncertainty (including waiting times), on the order of a few minutes. Further, the transit system is capable of making total trip times comparable to, if not less than, those of private auto for many employment, shopping and recreational trips. These advantages are particularly beneficial as one impediment to the public""s acceptance of an urban transportation system is the public""s quite correct observations that total trip times are less when using the family""s private vehicle, so why submit to the inevitable uncertain waiting times and greater total transit times of conventional mass transit systems.
The preferred transit system has passengers register for standard trips that are associated with defined origination sites, destination sites and trip times. For example, an xe2x80x9cemployment tripxe2x80x9d can be defined as: inbound between 6 AM and 10 AM; use of one of three pickup locations (origination sites) in a defined residential area; use of a single employment location (destination site); and, be outbound between 1 PM and 8 PM. This employment trip would be assigned a code referred to later that would be used to provide single button requests on a cellular phone. The registration could be via a web page to eliminate the need for operator interaction with the subscriber.
The passenger submits this xe2x80x9cemployment tripxe2x80x9d request via the passenger cell phone to the central assigning system. The central assigning system has accumulated historical employment trip information from a plurality of passengers, and predicts the optimal timing of origination sites and destination sites for the passengers. (For conventional mass transit, this is the schedule of vehicle operations but updated by actual operations with GPS information) For ride-sharing with a ride-sharing driver, this schedule can be adjusted day to day to take advantage of and account for numerous possibilities including driver illness and demand changes by day of week or because of holidays.
When a passenger requests service, the central assigning system immediately assigns the passenger to one or more alternative anticipated routings and communicates the alternatives to the passenger. Such processing may include defining more than one origination and/or destination site, and more than one vehicle. The passenger then picks one of the alternatives based on timing and locations of origination and destination, and perhaps cost. At this point, the passenger""s employment trip request becomes a xe2x80x9creservationxe2x80x9d held in the system. Thereafter, assuming a particular vehicle has become fully loaded with passengers having reservations, future requests from other passengers will not be assigned to that particular vehicle.
In assigning passengers, that is, providing alternative routings, the central assigning system interprets various data, including the method by which the passenger is to arrive and depart from the pick-up and drop-off site. For example, if the passenger profile indicates walking was to be used for getting to and from home, the answer would be different than if a car was available to drive to a pick-up site.
The central assigning system can dynamically update the schedule of vehicles based both on demand trends and on actual vehicle progress in meeting schedules. Vehicle progress data can be provided by GPS. Some or all of the ride-sharing drivers as well as all of the paid bus drivers, and all rail schedules, are presumed to have some flexibility in making trips. This is obvious for standard transit, although under current situations most operate on fixed time schedules because passengers are without cell phones according to the present system, and must depend on portable time pieces (watches) and predetermined, but perhaps unreliable, schedules.
Ride-sharing drivers have essentially the same portable communication devices as passengers, e.g., cell phones, but the software capabilities are slightly different. For most drivers, there is a fixed window of making trips. For example, driver A may make employment trips and is required to arrive between 8 AM and 8:30 AM and work at least an 8 hour day with prearranged flexibility to stay 8 to 9 hours at the work location. The assigning system communicates with the driver and assigns him or her to arrange the trip based on the same considerations as discussed earlier.
It is anticipated that some ride-sharing drivers may have a fixed schedule that cannot be altered. In such a case, the financial reward to the driver may be less favorable than for someone with more flexibility.
As noted above, the assigning system accounts for alternatives including driver""s illness, vacations, and other exceptions. The assigning system can handle these contingencies, preferably totally automatically, by such actions as (1) simply not using the vehicle, (2) by calling in a back up driver (who would normally have been a passenger perhaps), (3) by adjusting the rest of the vehicle schedules, or (4) in emergencies, notifying already scheduled passengers that service is not available and allowing them to reenter the system. As discussed later, a contemplated billing subsystem can automatically take into account such failures of service.
One embodiment of the central assigning system incorporates the use of a scheduling processor/subsystem. The scheduling processor of the central assigning system systematically monitors each passenger""s and vehicle""s information, and then communicates to the passenger a pickup point (origination site) and estimated or exact time of pick up. The scheduling processor can further inform the passenger of the type of vehicle, the exact destination site (if not fixed by the request), the expected time of arrival, the cost of the trip (if not fixed and requested as part of the passenger profile), and the expected total time of travel. More than one communication may be required to update information, particularly the exact time of trip origination. This will allow the passenger to originate his departure from home, office, store, etc. at a time that minimizes waiting time. Waiting time for trips is known to have a particularly high social penalty for passengers. Similarly, uncertainty of times has a particularly high social penalty.
The data interpreted and evaluated by the central assigning system can include: (1) communications with passengers to schedule their trips and give them precise information on trip times and sites; (2) vehicle (and in some instances passenger) location communications using GPS technology; (3) communications to vehicles to allocate routes, schedules and passengers; and, (4) communications between passengers and vehicles to monitor system usage. These communications pertain to both ride-sharing and vehicle rental. Under normal operations, digital computers monitor and control the system without manual intervention so as to both minimize costs and make the complex data processing possible in a timely manner.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the invention to provide a public transit system that overcomes the above-described problems and others associated with prior public transit systems.
It is another object of the present invention to utilize the existing mass transit infrastructure while supplementing it with advanced communication technology in order to provide a superior transit system.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a more efficient and effective route assignment process that minimizes vehicle backtracking and makes the most efficient use of the vehicles which service transit requests.
It is another object of this invention to minimize uncertainty and wait times associated with shared-ride, mass transit, and car rental (including taxi) by providing timely information of the location and current schedule of vehicles such that the user need not wait during a trip making process.
It is another object of this invention to provide mobility to persons who make a sequence of trips more attractive by providing a system of shared cars or car rental that handle those trips in the sequence not conveniently handled by shared-ride or mass transit mode.
It is another objective of this invention to provide a convenient access and billing system for all modes of travel, shared-ride, mass transit, or car rental (including taxi) such that the user need not be bothered with cash or tokens but rather receives a monthly billing perhaps as part of the cellular communications bill.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading the following specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures.